Subway Work Resumes at Crane-Collapse Site

Construction has resumed on the West Side extension of the no. 7 subway line, six days after a crane collapsed at the 33rd Street site, killing one worker and injuring three.

Cranes swung over the massive concrete pit and a cement-mixing truck hummed at Site J along 11th Avenue, which will eventually become the new final stop of the 7 line. The expansion will extend the line 1.5 miles west and south, from Times Square to a location across the street from the Javits Center.

Although work has resumed, the crews haven’t brought in a crane to replace the Manitowoc 2100s that collapsed on Tuesday evening in the fatal accident, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman said.

Investigators led by the city’s Department of Buildings are still probing the cause of the collapse, and they have indicated that the maintenance on the crane in the days before it collapsed would be a focus. The crane is owned by Yonkers Contracting Inc., the lead contractor at the site.

The extension of the 7 line is projected to cost about $2.4 billion in total and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.